The traditionally illiquid post-Thanksgiving week has started with a series of whipsaws across stocks and bonds, as European stocks turned positive after starting the day on the back foot, initially mirroring a slide in Chinese stocks and price action in U.S. equity futures as investors look to a possible - and absolutely critical - tax-plan vote in the Senate this week.
Yesterday's China stock market rout, in which the Shanghai Composite tumbled the most since June 2016 to three month lows, and which prompted traders to question the dedication of Beijing's plunge protection team, appears to have been forgotten, with the Composite closing unchanged on Friday after some early session weakness, as Chinese yields declined broadly across the board from 3 years highs.
In a surprise announcement, moments ago South Africa's parliament speaker announced a secret ballot will be held on Zuma no-confidence motion on Tuesday.
Speaking to journalists, the speaker of the national assembly, Baleka Mbete, who is a member of the ruling ANC party and is widely tipped to replace Zuma at some point, said it is her responsibility as speaker to decide whether or not the no confidence vote in President Zuma will be conducted by secret ballot or not. Her decision which was just announced: the vote will indeed be secret.
By Chris at www.CapitalistExploits.at
Awwww! It's true, though, provided what is shared is useful.
A fellow subscriber to the Capitalist Exploits community who asked to remain anonymous is a macro strategist with a strong interest in South Africa.
By Chris at www.CapitalistExploits.at
About a month ago, the South African government raised the minimum threshold for black ownership of mining companies from 26% to 30%.
It's called "black empowerment" or "affirmative action" and is intended to provide black people with greater access to wealth, education, and to correct the inequality created by the white-led government who relinquished power in 1994 - 23 years ago.